John Gaunt and Partners - Checking your annual fee invoice

Many Premises Licence Holders have recently been receiving their invoices to pay their annual fees from their Licensing Authorities.

We would strongly suggest you carefully check the request when received, as a number of our clients have found the annual fee multiplier applied to this year’s total.

This can mean either a double or triple increase to the total fee payable (annually) by the Premises Licence Holder.

However, all is not lost, we at John Gaunt & Partners have on a number of occasions successfully argued against the imposition of the Multiplier, based on the statistical data of our clients premises and the interpretation of Regulation 5 of the Licensing Act 2003 (Fees) Regulations 2005.

The issue is whether your premises have incorrectly been identified by your Licensing Authority as “exclusively or primarily used for the supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises”.

To assist in any argument against the Annual Fee Multiplier, you should consider:

1) Turnover and profit on a Wet/Dry split. Do the figures reflect a dry led business?

2) Floor space and Licensed Premises design, is it more attributable to a food based business?

3) General character of the business:

a) The purpose for which the customers go to the premises.

b) What is the intensity of use by customers?

c) How is the business marketed? What does any website and promotional material reflect?

You can call the free BII Licensing Helpline any time about this or any other licensing issue on: 0330 058 3878.